Brick embossing device



April 16, 1935. R. A. CLEM BRIC K EMBOSSING DEVICE Filed Oct. 16, 1935 3 Sheets-Shae? 1 I v Inventor, Ross A.C'Zem,,

Aprii 16, 1935.

R. A. CLEM BRICK EMBOSSING DEVICE Filed Oct. 16, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor,

Ross A. C'Lem,

Attorneys April 16, 1935. R A. CLEM BRICK EMBOSSING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct.

Inventor,

Ross A. Clem,

Attorneys.

Patented Apr. 16, 1935 UNl-TEm STATES BRICK EMBOSSING DEVICE RossA. Clem, .West Terre Haute,.Ind., assignorto. Joseph Entwistlc, Terre ,Haute, Ind,

Application October. 16, 1933, 'SerialNo. 693,807

9 Claims.

This invention relatesto the art of brick makingmachines and particularly to means for embossing or-forming-.patterns or designs on-the bricks as they. may becut from'the column'of clay. 'The invention is intendedtobe applied-to that type of abrick cutter wherein a movable carriagereceives acolumn of clay and a revolvingreel is car'ried byj'the carriage to cutthroug'h the column'by' a multiple number of wires spaced apart to define :the thicknesses of the bricks,

such machinebeing wellknown-to those versed in' the art and the details of whichdo nOt specifically 'ent'er into my invention.

important 'object ofthe invention is toprovide an attachment which-maybe applied to the type of machine above indicated so that each brick as cutmay be'embossed or intended to produce the desired face. thereon simultaneously'with the cutting of "thebrickifromthe column of clay. Itis a=further objectef the invention to provide such a devicezthat may be applied to themaChine Without interference-of other parts thereof {and which will-work automaticallytherewith.

2A further important-object of the invention is to provide means for retaining each individual brick rigidly inplace on='the platen-as the cutting wires :move through the claycol'umn whereby the cuts throughthe1-column are in planes perpendicular-to" the axis of the column and do not curve as would'be the case-should thecolumn'acciden tally be shifted while the cuttingis taking place.

"These and other objects and advantages will becomeapparent to those versed in-the art by the following description of one particular form of the invention" as-illustrated'by the 7 accompanying drawings, in'which Fig. l is -a fragmentary perspective view of a brick cutter with a single embossing device in position;

Fig.2, a fragmentary top'perspectiveview, and j Fig. 3, a detail in fragmentary'side elevation of the embossing attachment.

Like characters of reference v indicate like parts 3 throughout the various views in thedra'wings.v

...Referring, to the. drawings, the cutter carriage of the cutting mechanism carries the usualplaten Ill supported from a-horizontalshaft l [by means of brackets 12 carried thereon. This platen I0 is in. .reality a plurality of; individual brackets spaced apartsufiiciently to permit the cutting wires .l 3 :to'pass'therebetween. As is the usual practice; in machines of itIIiS tYDS, a column of clayrectangular in? shape is extruded to extendon thisjplaten l0 and'thenithe reel I4 is revolvedto carry the wires 3 through this column to cut through it to form the-individual bricks.

'To the above described mechanism I attach a plurality of embossingdevices which will now be described indetail. Referring first to Fig. 3, "I form a casting [5 to have a body adapted to fit over the'upper side of the bracket 12 and to be there securedb y substituting bolts it for the shorter-bolts I1, Fig. 1, which were'employed to retain the individual'members of the platen ii against'the under sides-of the brackets i2. The

casting 'l5 is sufficiently narrow so as to fit between the wire holding members "l8 which are carried onthe shaft H between'brackets l2.

The casting 15 extends forwardly and downwardlybelow the shaft H to have a head 19 centrally and vertically through which is slidably positioned a rod 2E3. Secured to the under side of this rod 29 isa plate'Zl which is parallel to the lower face of the platen l0. Guide'pins' Z2 and 23 respectivelyare fixed to the plate 2'! and extend upwardly slidably within bores provided in the head l9 whereby the plate 2! may not rotate horizontally-but is maintained in fixed alignment.

Each of these pins 22, 23 are preferably providedwith some-means for preventing the rapid passage of air past thepins within the bore, such means'being here shown as a cup leather 24 on the upper end. It is desired that as the plate 21 may be pulled upwardly by the rod 2i these pins 22 and 23 as their upper ends approach the ends of their respective bores will tend to compress the air therein so as to provide an increasing I resistance to such moving of the plate and there by producea cushioning effect.

The plate 2! is normally held up against the head I 9 'by means of a spring 25 which surrounds the rod to compressibly bear between the top side of the head'iS and a washerZii held by a pin 21 passing through 'therod. The upper end of the rodZll is screwthreaded to receive a head 28, the threaded connection providing means for adjusting the head 28 upwardly or downwardly therealong. I

The upper end of the head 28 is bifurcated to receive therethrough the operating lever 29. This lever 29 is pivotally connected to the casting E5 to extend through the slot in the head 23 and normally substantially horizontally therebeycnd. A lug 35 is provided on the under side of the lever 2'9 tobe preferably rounded and so located as to'be in contact with the head 28 at the bottom of the slot whereby this lug may slide on the head 28 as it may be depressed by pushing down on the outer free end of the lever 29. A pin-3! loosely passes through the lever 29 between the upper ends of the head 28 so as to prevent the lever 29 from accidentally flying out of the slot in the head 28, the actual bearing between the lever and the head being at the under side of the lug 30 and not at the pin 3|. To the under side of the plate 2| may be attached any suitable embossing die 32, here shown as by means of bolts 33.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, a. bar 34 is fixed to the reel to be back of each set of wires 13. On this bar is carried a presser foot 35 for each lever 29. This foot 35 consists of a short plate rockably attached to the forward upper side of the bar 34 to extend rearwardly therefrom, so as to be in the path of the respective lever 29 as the reel [4 may be revolved. A bolt 36 extends upwardly through the bar 34 to be stopped by a head thereunder and is slidably passed through the foot 35 to extend upwardly therebeyond to carry a spring 3! therearound bearing between the top of the foot 35 and a washer 38 adjustably carried on the bolt 36 by the wing nut 39. V

While but one embossing device is shown in Fig. 1, it is to be understood that there is one such device between each pair of wires 13, only one such device being shown in Fig. l--for the sage of clearness in illustrating the relative positions of the various parts. In operation, the bars 34 are so located on the reel M that when the Wires I3 come into contact with the corner of the column of clay then on the platen Ill, the feet 35 have come into contact with the ends of the,

levers 29 and carried them down to thepositions indicated by the dash lines in Fig. 3, whereupon the embossing plate 32 is brought against the top of the clay column to compressibly engage that column with the platen l0 so that as the wires 13 continue to cut through the column, the bricks thereby being cut off are firmly held against longitudinal movement on the platen l0 and at the same time, sufficient pressure is exerted by the plate 32 to impress whatever design is to be formed by that plate upon the edge of the brick. Of course the plate 32 may remain perfectly smooth if desired so that the device may beused solely for the purpose of preventing movement of the bricks as they are cut if'a design is not to be impressed simultaneously. By adjusting the wing nuts 39 the pressure applied on the bricks may be controlled and should the pressure become too great, the members 35 will be forced upwardly to further contract the springs 31 even so far as to permit the members 35 to slide on past the ends of the levers 29 when in such raised positions. It is to be understood that in any event the feet 35 are lifted eventually as the reel continues to carry the wires tln'ough the clay column so that toward the end of the cutting operation, the levers 29 are released in any event. The pressure by the plates 32 on the bricksserves to stop any relative motion initially between the platen and the clay column at the beginning of body, a plate, a lever, means for moving the plate by moving the lever and means comprising a hinged foot yieldingly actuated by the movement of the cutting mechanism for moving the lever to lower the plate.

2. A presser attachment for a brick cutting mechanism comprising a relatively stationary body, a plate, a rod'slidably carried by the body and secured to the plate, a lever pivotally carried by the body in contact with said rod whereby rocking of the lever will lower the rod, and means carried by said mechanism comprising a hinged foot yieldingly striking and moving said lever and lowering said plate.

3. A presser attachment for a brick cutting mechanism comprising a relatively stationary body, a plate, a rod slidably carried by the body and secured to the plate, a lever pivotally carried by the body and in contact with said rod whereby rocking of the lever will lower the rod,

4. Apresser attachment for a brick cutting mechanism comprising a. relatively stationary body, a plate, a rod slidably carried by the body and secured to the plate, a lever pivotally carried by the body and in contact with said rod whereby rocking of the lever will lower the rod, and means carried by said mechanism to strike and move said lever to lower said plate, said'means comprising a foot rockably attached to the mechanism, and a spring yieldingly retaining the foot in the path of the lever.

5. For a brick cutting mechanism, the combination with a platen adapted to receive a column of clay thereover, a plurality of column cutting wires, and means for carrying said wires through the column; of a plurality of embossing devices one each being mounted within the space between adjacent wires and being spaced above and fixed relative to said platen; each of said devices comprising a body, a rod slidably carried by the body to reciprocate toward and away from the platen, a plate on the rod, a lever rockably carried by the body and engaging with said rod; and feet carried by said means in the, paths of the levers located to strike and move the levers to depress the plates against said column upon said wires initially starting to cut into the column.

6. For a brick cutting mechanism, the combination with a platen adapted to receive a column of clay thereover, a plurality of column cutting Wires, and means for carrying said wires through the column; of a plurality of embossing devices one each being mounted within the space between adjacent wires and being spaced above and fixedrelative to said platen; each of said devices com prising a body, a rod slidably carried by the body to reciprocate toward and away'fromthe platen, a plate on the rod, a lever rockably carried by the body and engaging with said rod; and feet carried by said means in the paths of the levers located to strike and move the levers to depress the plates against said column upon said wires initially starting to cut into the column, and springs yieldingly retaining said feet against said levers permitting the feet to shift from contact with the levers upon a predetermined pressure being applied by the feet on the levers.

7. For a brick cutting mechanism, the combination with a shiftable carriagehaving a platen over which a column of clay is extruded, and a reel carried by the carriage having a plurality of spaced apart Wires for cutting through the column to slice off lengths intobricks upon rotation of the reel; of a plurality of embossing devices, one for each brick formed, said devices being located one Within each space between adjacent wires and mounted on said carriage to be spaced above and'fixed relative to said platen, a reciprocating plate carried by each device, a lever extending from each device for reciprocating its plate, and means carried by said reel located to intercept said levers to carry said plates against the clay column in timed sequence with said wires.

8. For a brick cutting mechanism, the combination with a shiftable carriage having a platen over which a column of clay is extruded, and a reel carried by the carriage having a plurality of spaced apart wires for cutting through the column to slice off lengths into bricks upon rotation of the reel; of a plurality of embossing devices, one for each brick formed, said devices being located one within each space between adjacent wires and mounted on said carriage to be spaced above and fixed relative to said platen, a reciprocating plate carried by each device, a lever extending from each device for reciprocating its plate, and means carried by said reel located to intercept said levers to carry said plates against the clay column in timed sequence with said Wires, said means comprising a bar extending across the reel and a foot on the bar for each lever.

9. For a brick cutting mechanism, the combination with a shiftable carriage having a platen over which a column of clay is extruded, and a reel carried by the carriage having a plurality of spaced apart wires for cutting through the column to slice off lengths into bricks upon rotation of the reel; of a plurality of embossing devices, one for each brick formed, said devices being located one within each space between adjacent wires and mounted on said carriage to be spaced above and fixed relative to said platen, a reciprocating plate carried by each device, a lever extending from each device for reciprocating its plate, and means carried by said reel located to intercept said levers to carry said plates against the clay column in timed sequence with said wires, said means comprising a bar extending across the reel and a foot on the bar for each lever, each of said feet being rockably attached normally to swing out of the way of said levers upon movement therepast, and a spring yieldingly resisting said swinging.

ROSS A. CLEM. 

